17 research outputs found
Pseudo forces from asymmetric vibrations can provide movement guidance
No full textWhen a trainee is (re)learning a skilled movement, physical guidance from a trainer is crucial. Yet, providing physical cues to guide movements is highly challenging when training is digitally mediated (e.g.remotely). This work demonstrates the utility of pseudo forces generated by a wearable tactile interface for providing non-intrusive movement guidance. First, we developed hardware to generate pseudo forces using asymmetric vibrations, whose frequency and amplitude can be tuned to vary the acceleration of the pseudo forces. Maximum acceleration of 160 m/sec^2 is obtained at a frequency of 40Hz and amplitude of 1. Second, the utility of the generated pseudo forces to provide movement guidance was explored by involving 19 participants in 4 separate experiments: 1) Symmetric and asymmetric vibration comparison, 2) Duration modulation, 3) Amplitude modulation, 4) Frequency Modulation of asymmetric vibration. For every experiment, the elements of movement guidance: direction and joint angular velocity were investigated. Participants perceive directional cues with 96% accuracy (P<0.001), and translate the perceived pseudo forces into directed arm movements, with a uniform joint angular velocity of 14+/-8 degrees/second for the duration of the provided pseudo force. The joint angular velocity of the arm movement changes until 12 degrees/second with frequency. With these findings, we anticipate pseudo forces to be the foundation for remote guidance of human body movements in fields like rehabilitation and sports.Mechanical Engineering | Biomechanical Design - BioRobotic
Mediated Transnational Communication: Digital Technology Use and Transnational Communication Practices of Resettled Refugees
Get PDFabstract: In 2016, the United Nations reported a historical high of 65.6 million globally displaced people. Within the current protectionist and isolationist climate, the U.S is accepting a fewer number of refugees for resettlement than ever before and less governmental funding is being allocated to resettlement organizations, which provide support services for refugee resettlement and integration.
Increased migration and the advancement of communication technologies with affordable access to these technologies have produced extensive communication networks and complex relational ties across the globe. While this is certainly true of all migrants, building and maintaining relational ties has added complexity for refugees whose journey to resettlement, economic insecurity, political disenfranchisement, and vulnerability impact the motivating factors for digital engagement.
This dissertation seeks to understand to what extent Diminescu’s (2008) concept of the connected migrant addresses the lived experience of resettled refugees in Phoenix, Arizona. The connected migrant through Information Communication Technology (ICT) use maintains transnational and local networks that produce mobility and belonging. Connected migrants are able to produce and maintain socio-technical sociality abroad and in the country of settlement to create and access social capital and resources. Using a grounded theory approach and qualitative methods, this research project explores concepts of mobility, connectivity, and belonging in relation to resettled refugees. The research indicates that age, imagined affordances, digital literacy, language, and time moderate connectivity, belonging, and mobility for resettled refugees. Finally, I offer the concept of transnational contextual relationality to understand refugee communication strategies with the transnational and local network.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Communication Studies 201
Reference intervals for estimated CBC parameters in cord blood: An Indian Scenario
Get PDFAccurate reference intervals established in healthy subjects are essential for appropriate interpretation of laboratory test results and to assist clinicians in diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of disease. These values are affected by key covariates including age, sex, race, geographical location and dietary pattern. Reference intervals are defined as “limiting values within which a specified percentage (usually 95%) of apparently healthy individuals’ results would fall” i.e. usually the 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles of the test result distribution in the reference (healthy) population
Performance of various semi-engineered roof deck systems under high velocity winds
No full textAbstractThis paper summarizes observations made in the field, limited tests performed in the laboratory and analytical evaluation done on various forms of semi-engineered roof deck systems. The paper also highlights some of the critical issues involved in the design of semi-engineered roof deck systems subjected to high velocity winds.The roof structures of typical semi-engineered residences in countries such as India and Belize are believed to be able to resist the effects of severe winds. However, relatively recent cyclonic events have demonstrated that roof systems of the types typically built in Belize and India are indeed among the most vulnerable major component of semi-engineered buildings under high velocity winds. This paper highlights just how vulnerable the various components of these roof systems are to high velocity winds. The paper, sequel to a previously published paper, is partially based on work done in connection with a doctoral dissertation being undertaken by the primary author Thurton [1]. The paper includes some general results of some investigations done based on building techniques utilized in the construction of roof systems in urban communities of Belize and parts of India
Digital platforms in the news industry: how social media platforms impact traditional media news viewership
Get PDFWe examine how social media plays the role of an attention driver for traditional media. Social media attracts and channels attention to a topic. This attention triggers people to seek further information that is reported professionally in traditional media. Specifically,the volume of social media posts about a stock influences the attention to this stock the next day,proxied by the viewership of news articles on the same stock published the next day. We test this hypothesis in the stock market context because social media is less likely than traditional media to diffuse fundamental information in the stock market. Analysing stock-related news articles and stock-related social media posts from Sina Finance and Sina Weibo,we find that the social media post volume of a stock at time t-1 is associated with the traditional media viewership of the same stock at time t. This effect is amplified when social media sentiment about the stock is more intense or positive,and with an increase in the volume of verified social media posts about the stock. Our results provide evidence that social media platforms act as attention drivers,which differ from the information channel functions discussed in prior literature. © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited,trading as Taylor & Francis Group.This work was supported by the Slovenian Research Agency [P5-0410]and the National Science Foundation under grants 2128906, 2113906 and 1909803.yesPublishe
Concept and development of an autonomous wearable micro-fluidic platform for real time pH sweat analysis
Get PDFIn this work the development of an autonomous, robust and wearable micro-fluidic platform capable of performing on-line analysis of pH in sweat is discussed. Through the means of an optical detection system based on a surface mount light emitting diode (SMD LED) and a light photo sensor as a detector, a wearable system was achieved in which real-time monitoring of sweat pH was performed during 55 minutes of cycling activity. We have shown how through systems engineering, integrating miniaturised electrical components, and by improving the micro-fluidic chip characteristics, the wearability, reliability and performance of the micro-fluidic platform was significantly improved
Preventive role of aminophylline on renal vascular changes among shock wave lithotripsy patients
No full textBackground: Shock wave lithotripsy is commonly used procedure for the treatment of urinary calculi which has revolutionized the treatment of urinary lithiasis since 19801. This study was undertaken to study the effect of aminophylline as a protective measure in preventing renal microvascular damage following SWL through RI in a prospective randomised controlled fashion.Methods: This prospective randomized experimental case control study was conducted from September 2010 to August 2011 at a tertiary care urological hospital. Total 52 patients with less than 2cm size renal stones were divided in two groups of 26 patients each.Results: Stone characteristics as site, size, laterality and Hounsfield units (HU) were comparable in both the groups. Mean RI of diseased and contralateral kidneys in group ‘A’ showed statistically significant rise at 4 hours, 12 hours and 24 hours, with no significant difference in RI at one week and one month. Complete stone clearance was achieved in immediate post-operative period in 88.46% of cases in group A and 96.1% in group B.Conclusions: Author conclude protective effect of aminophylline over renal vascular injury in shock wave lithotripsy patients in form of early return of resistive index values toward baseline.</jats:p
Mannose-functionalization of reconstituted high-density lipoprotein nanoparticles improves payload delivery and enhances M2-to-M1 phenotype reprogramming of RAW 264.7 macrophages polarized by B16-F10 melanoma cells
Get PDFThe targeting and conversion of the immunosuppressive (M2) tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) to an immunostimulatory (M1) phenotype can induce tumor regression in advanced melanoma. We have previously characterized and reported the ability of reconstituted high-density lipoprotein nanoparticles (rHDL NPs) functionalized with DSPE-PEG-mannose (DPM) to deliver payload to macrophages. Herein, we investigate the modulation of macrophage phenotype and payload delivery mechanisms of the rHDL-DPM NPs in RAW 264.7 murine macrophages exposed to the conditioned medium (CM) from murine B16-F10 melanoma cells. The rHDL-DPM NPs loaded with the Stimulator of Interferon genes agonist, DMXAA, reduced protein levels of M2 markers. Through the mannose moiety, the rHDL-DPM-DMXAA NPs enhanced the production of interferon beta and CXCL10 compared to the free DMXAA in the B16-F10 CM-educated RAW 264.7 macrophages. Compared to their non-mannosylated counterpart, the rHDL-DPM NPs delivered their payload more efficiently to the B16-F10 CM-educated RAW 264.7 macrophages. Mechanistically, both the scavenger receptor type B class 1 (SR-B1) and the mannose receptor (CD206) facilitated payload delivery to the macrophages via endocytic and non-endocytic mechanisms. Finally, the CM from rHDL-DPM-DMXAA NPs -treated macrophages enhanced paclitaxel (paclitaxel)-mediated cytotoxicity in B16-F10 cells. Together, these in vitro findings demonstrate the potential of the mannose-functionalized rHDL NPs in improving the targeting of M2-like TAMs and treatment outcomes when combined with immunotherapy or PTX in B16-F10 melanoma in vivo models.The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was partly funded by a UNTHSC Seed grant (#302600-830029, AL), a UNTHSC MIG pilot grant (#302800-830029, RF), Cerenis Therapeutics, now Abionyx Pharma (#300187, AL), and the Virginia Morris Kincaid Foundation (#305086, RF). This work (MM) was partially supported by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health Award #5R25HL007786- 29. AD. was partially supported by the National Institute Of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R25GM125587. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. This work (AD) is partially supported by a grant (#RP210046) from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) to Jamboor K. Vishwanatha
Marginal climate and air quality costs of aviation emissions
Get PDFAviation emissions have been found to cause5%of global anthropogenic radiative forcing and ∼16 000 premature deaths annually due to impaired air quality. When aiming to reduce these impacts, decision makers often face trade-offs between different emission species or impacts in different times and locations. To inform rational decision-making, this study computes aviation’s marginal climate and air quality impacts per tonne of species emitted and accounts for the altitude, location, and chemical composition of emissions. Climate impacts are calculated using a reduced-order climate model, and air quality-related health impacts are quantified using marginal atmospheric sensitivities to emissions from the adjoint of the global chemistry-transport model GEOS-Chem in combination with concentration response functions and the value of statistical life. The results indicate that 90% of the global impacts per unit of fuel burn are attributable to cruise emissions, and that 64% of all damages are the result of air quality impacts. Furthermore, nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon dioxide (CO2), and contrails are collectively responsible for 97% of the total impact. Applying our result metrics to an example, we find that a 20%NOx stringency scenario for new aircraft would reduce the net atmospheric impacts by 700mUSD during the first year of operation, even if theNOx emission reductions cause a small increase inCO2 emissions of 2%. In such a way, the damage metrics can be used to rapidly evaluate the atmospheric impacts of market growth as well as emissions trade-offs of aviation-related policies or technology improvements.Aircraft Noise and Climate Effect
A role for ABCB1 in prognosis, invasion and drug resistance in ependymoma
Get PDF© 2019, The Author(s). Three of the hallmarks of poor prognosis in paediatric ependymoma are drug resistance, local invasion and recurrence. We hypothesised that these hallmarks were due to the presence of a sub-population of cancer stem cells expressing the multi-drug efflux transporter ABCB1. ABCB1 gene expression was observed in 4 out of 5 paediatric ependymoma cell lines and increased in stem cell enriched neurospheres. Functional inhibition of ABCB1 using vardenafil or verapamil significantly (p ≤ 0.05–0.001) potentiated the response to three chemotherapeutic drugs (vincristine, etoposide and methotrexate). Both inhibitors were also able to significantly reduce migration (p ≤ 0.001) and invasion (p ≤ 0.001). We demonstrate that ABCB1 positive patients from an infant chemotherapy-led trial (CNS9204) had a shorter mean event free survival (EFS) (2.7 versus 8.6 years; p = 0.007 log-rank analysis) and overall survival (OS) (5.4 versus 12 years; p = 0.009 log-rank analysis). ABCB1 positivity also correlated with reduced event free survival in patients with incompletely resected tumours who received chemotherapy across CNS9204 and CNS9904 (a radiotherapy-led SIOP 1999-04 trial cohort; p = 0.03). ABCB1 is a predictive marker of chemotherapy response in ependymoma patients and vardenafil, currently used to treat paediatric pulmonary hypertension in children, could be repurposed to reduce chemoresistance, migration and invasion in paediatric ependymoma patients at non-toxic concentrations
